I studied with a great and humble Taoist teacher for many years before coming across Zhenzan Dao and The Mogadao Institute. One thing this teacher would often say is: “Never trust someone who calls themselves a master.”

He would emphasize that no matter how much you study and train and practice in something it is important to keep a humble character and an open mind as you always have so much more to learn and understand before you can call yourself a master.

Coming from this particular teacher it carried a lot of weight, as he had been studying Chinese Medicine, Kung Fu, Martial Arts, and Tai Chi for over 60 years, and with some incredible teachers and Sifus. He would give credit where credit was due often praising his teachers with respect and gratitude for teaching him what he now knows. He was a wealth of knowledge and experience but he also spoke how he felt like he was only a beginner and had so much more to learn.

Those humble teachings really stuck with me, especially when I cam across the self proclaimed “Master” of Chi Gong and Chi itself – Zhenzan Dao. It only took one class, my very first at the Mogadao Institute, for Zhenzan to claim that they were a “master.” Instantly the warning sirens were going off in my head from my previous teacher’s wise words “Never trust someone who calls themselves a master.”

This made me very skeptical of Zhenzan and the Mogadao Tradition overall, but also intrigued me and I chose to study for a little while to see what this person and school was all about. Zhenzan claimed to have no teachers, and said Mogadao has no lineage, that it came about from their own necessity to create something truly healing and powerful because all of the previous Taoist teachings and chi gong exercises were not adequate. A bold statement to say the least, and quite egotistical in my opinion.

During the time I studied with Zhenzan they, and the teachings, seemed to only become more egotistical. Zhenzan made it seem like Mogadao was THE only path. They made it sound like other religions, spiritual thoughts/beliefs, and even Taoism itself were inferior to what Zhenzan was bringing to the world. After realizing that Zhenzan was a narcissist and all of this was simply focused on making them appear to be a superior person, I left the school.

It was quite a shock to study with a teacher who was so humble and taught the importance of humility and respect, then coming across Zhenzan who was on the opposite end of the spectrum arrogantly claiming to be a master.

Now I for one am no master. I do think it is possible to become a master, but I do not believe you can claim yourself to be a master, as that is arrogant and egotistical. I believe that is where my former teacher was correct in stating, “Never trust someone who calls themselves a master.” For you must earn the title of master and if you claim yourself to be a master you are doing so for the ego more than for the Tao. The Tao would never claim to be a master, that is anti-Taoist, so why would a supposedly Taoist teacher claim to be a master? Doesn’t seem Taoist to me.

After first hand experience and witnessing Zhenzan I would agree with my former teacher as I do not trust Zhenzan and I do not trust Mogadao and hope this little testimonial helps you to see that practicing and studying with an egotistical teacher in an egotistical program is not safe and is not healthy.

I will leave you with a quote from the Seven Taoist Masters, A Folk Novel of China in which they speak of Chi Gong as a tool to tame the desires and egotistical tendencies of the mind if done so in a healthy way:

“As a matter of fact, the practice of Taoist ch’i-kung is extremely dangerous if the ego is dominant.”

I fully agree, chi kung is extremely dangerous if the ego is dominant, and to me it is quite clear that Zhenzan’s ego is dominant and they, and Mogadao, are dangerous.